R7 Motorway (Kosovo)

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R7 Motorway
Autostrada 'Dr Ibrahim Rugova'

Map of the R7 Motorway

Portion of the R7 Motorway
Route information
Part of E851
Length: 101 km (63 mi)
Major junctions
West end: Vërmicë
East end: Pristina
Location
Major cities: Prizren, Pristina
Highway system
Roads in Kosovo

The R7 Motorway (commonly named the Dr Ibrahim Rugova Highway or simply Autostrada Ibrahim Rugova) is a motorway located in Kosovo[a]. Forming part of the E851, it is the first motorway constructed in the region and it links the Albanian border at the village of Vërmicë with the capital Pristina. Construction of the motorway started in April 2010. It was finished in 2013 with the Vërmicë-Pristina segment ending in Gjergjica at the M9. The highway is seen as part of the larger Vërmicë-Merdare corridor ending at the Merdare border crossing with Serbia in eastern Kosovo. R7 is 101 km long at a cost of €700 million/ $790 million. This highway, along with the A1 Motorway in Albania, have set the travel time from Pristina to Tirana to 3 hours.[1] Once the remaining E80 Pristina-Merdare section project will be finalized and completed, the motorway will link Kosovo through the present E80 highway with the Pan-European corridor X (E75) near Niš, Serbia.

History and impact

Since the end of the Kosovo War of 1999, hundreds of thousands of Albanians have passed through the poor old mountain road to get to Albania's beaches.[2] It was clear that building a highway in both sides would "crystallize a year-round tourism industry and double the size of the Albanian market", while allowing both communities to rationalize agriculture.[2] Construction of the Albanian side began in 2007 and that of the Kosovo side in 2010. After both motorways were completed in 2010 and 2013 respectively, travel times have been lowered to two and a half hours or less, down from seven.[2]

Once finalized, the project will link the Adriatic Sea with the Pan-European corridor X at the E80 near the town of Merdare between the disputed Kosovo-Serbia border.

Exit list

Type Name Connections Destinations
Beginning of , Vërmicë, border with Albania)
 Prizren jug Connection to Prizren South and Skopje, Macedonia
 Prizren veri R107 Connection to Prizren North, Pec, and Dakovica
 Suhareke R117 Connection to Suhareka and Theranda
 Duhel Connection to Duhel/Dulje and Shtime/Stimlje
 Malisheve R119 Connection to Malisheve
End of , the road continues as for 24 km (interchanges to Gjergjica, Sllatine e Madhe and Fushe Kosove are available)
 Fushe Kosove Connection to Pristina and Kosovo Polje
 Skopje (under construction) Connection to R6 Motorway, Hani i Elezit and Skopje, Macedonia (future)
 Pristina Connection to Pristina Northwest and Kosovska Mitrovica
End of , the road continues as /E80 to Besiane and Merdare (administrative boundary with Serbia)

Notes and references

Notes:

a. ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has received recognition as an independent state from 110 out of 193 United Nations member states.

References:

  1. ↑ KosPress (2010-06-08). ""Rruga e Kombit" filloj edhe në Kosovë" (in Albanian). KosPress.
  2. 1 2 3 Benet Koleka (June 28, 2007). "Highway set to bring Albania and Kosovo closer". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-06-13.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Autostradë A1.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to National Roads in Kosovo.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.